Front cover image for Finite and Infinite Goods : a Framework for Ethics

Finite and Infinite Goods : a Framework for Ethics

Robert Adams gives a comprehensive philosophical account of a theistically-based framework for ethics. He draws on over 20 years of his published work to create this overarching framework, which is based upon the idea of a transcendent, infinite good, which is God, and its relation to the many finite examples of good in our experience
eBook, English, 1999
Oxford University Press, Incorporated, Cary, 1999
1 online resource (425 pages)
9780198029472, 0198029470
922952681
""Contents""; ""Introduction""; ""I: THE NATURE OF THE GOOD""; ""1 God as the Good""; ""1. The Semantics and the Metaphysics of Value""; ""2. Eros and the Good""; ""3. Godlikeness""; ""4. Varieties of Excellence""; ""5. The Divine Nature""; ""2 The Transcendence of the Good""; ""1. The Holy""; ""2. Naturalism""; ""3. Empirical Testing, Explanation, and Value""; ""4. Transcendence Vindicated""; ""3 Well-Being and Excellence""; ""1. Well-Being and the Satisfaction of Desire""; ""2. Well-Being as Enjoyment of the Excellent""; ""4 The Sacred and the Bad""; ""1. The Bad""; ""2. Moral Horror"" ""3. Violation""""4. Images of God""; ""5. The Value of Persons as Persons""; ""6. Ontology""; ""7. Defilement and Symbolic Violation""; ""II: LOVING THE GOOD""; ""5 Eros ""; ""1. Can God Love Finite Things at All?""; ""2. Benevolence and Self-Interest""; ""3. Eros and Self-Interest""; ""4. The Value of Love�s Interest in Relationship""; ""5. Impersonal Objects of Love""; ""6 Grace ""; ""1. Love�s Particularity""; ""2. Love for Particular Universals""; ""3. Reasons for Love""; ""4. Hesed""; ""5. Love�s Universality""; ""7 Devotion""; ""1. The Ethics of Motives"" ""2. The Fragmentation of Value""""3. The Integration of Value""; ""4. The Problem of Total Devotion""; ""5. Love for the Good as Organizing Principle""; ""6. Love as Enjoyment""; ""7. Love as Alliance""; ""8 Idolatry""; ""1. Priorities""; ""2. Need and Detachment""; ""3. Misidentification""; ""9 Symbolic Value""; ""1. Martyrdom""; ""2. The Moral Value of Symbolism""; ""3. Eschatology and Ethics""; ""4. Worship""; ""III: THE GOOD AND THE RIGHT""; ""10 Obligation ""; ""1. Sanctions and the Semantics of Obligation""; ""2. Guilt""; ""3. Social Requirement""; ""11 Divine Commands"" ""1. Placing the Theory in Its Context""""2. Divine Commands and the Role of Obligation""; ""3. Divine Command and Divine Will""; ""4. What Is a Divine Command?""; ""5. Autonomy""; ""12 Abraham�s Dilemma""; ""1. The Dilemma Stated""; ""2. Can It Be Wrong to Obey God?""; ""3. What Should We Believe about God�s Commands?""; ""13 Vocation""; ""1. Singular Judgments in Ethics""; ""2. A Conception of Vocation""; ""3. Actuality and Goodness""; ""4. Vocation and Selfhood""; ""5. Vocation and Conflicting Values""; ""14 Politics and the Good""; ""1. Perfectionism and Equality"" ""2. Civil Liberties""""3. Church, State, and Culture""; ""4. State Action to Protect and Promote the Good""; ""IV: THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF VALUE""; ""15 Revelation of the Good""; ""1. The Metaphysics and the Epistemology of Value""; ""2. Evaluative Doxastic Practices""; ""3. General Revelation""; ""4. Special Revelation, Experience, and Change in Ethics""; ""16 Moral Faith""; ""1. Faith in Morality""; ""2. Faith in Moral Ends""; ""3. The Cognitive Aspect of Moral Faith""; ""4. The Volitional Aspect of Moral Faith""; ""5. The Emotional Aspect of Moral Faith""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""; ""A""
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